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CHICAGO—Not much by way of hockey players come from Kristianstad, a town of about 40,000 in southeast Sweden. It’s most famous athlete is Lisa Norden, a 2012 Olympic silver medallist in triathlon.

So when Timothy Liljegren was a youngster — a 14-year-old playing against much older players — scouts encouraged his mother, Lina, to let her son move to a town with a better hockey program.

What was the single mother of three boys to do?

“We moved,” the mother said, “so he could play with guys the same age. I moved with him because he was just 14.”

The family moved 100 or so kilometres west, to Angelholm, home of the hockey program of Rogle BK of the Swedish Hockey League. That program produced former Maple Leafs defenceman Kenny Jonsson.

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“They always told me: ‘Your son is a very good hockey player,” Lina Liljegren said. “I wanted to give him every chance to he could to carry on, to get better.”

That life-altering decision led to her son becoming one of Sweden’s top defensive prospects, and the Leafs’ first pick, 17th overall, on the first day of the NHL draft on Friday.

“He’s going to be enjoyable for the fans of Toronto to watch,” Leafs assistant GM Mark Hunter said. “He will bring people out of their seats.”

Liljegren’s two older brothers, William, 25, and Anthony 22, made the trip to Chicago as well. And the moment when Timothy Liljegren’s name was announced was as emotional for Lina as it was for her son.

“I almost cried, I was so happy,” she said. “Since he was a little kid, I drove him to hockey, it’s all he wanted. I have three boys. I am alone with the boys. It has been so much work, but to see Timothy to grow up and be that good a hockey player, it’s unbelievable.”

And Toronto, she said, is the perfect spot for him.

“Toronto is this big hockey town. Hockey is everything. And I can see Timothy is so happy, I see it in his eyes. He is so happy to be in Toronto. I’m so glad for him.”

Liljegren said he felt he had a good connection with the Leafs when they scouted him and when they interviewed him at the combine. But at the same time, he was nervous meeting Hunter and the rest of the Leafs brass.

“He’s very honest about his game. That’s important,” Hunter said. “Some young men think they’re good when they’re bad. He’s very humble and honest for where he has to go. That’s important for a hockey player.”

While the Leafs took six more players in Saturday’s later rounds, the focus will be heavily on Liljegren, a player deemed to have been good enough to go in the top five of the first round when the season began. His stock fell due to a bout of mono that sidelined him for two months and slowed him down when he returned.

“Coming into the season I had real high expectations on myself,” Liljegren said. “It was hard dealing with mono. But coming back, I let go of those expectations and I really just wanted to finish the season strong.”

He also ended up playing for five different teams, between the national one and loans between junior and senior teams. “It was pretty hard to find a balance. It was a tough season.”

His mother said she was proud of the way he handled his illness.

“I was so sad for him when he got sick,” Lina said. “But he is so grown up. There were so many expectations around him. People thought his should be the best player in the SHL. But when he got sick, the expectations were not so high on him

“When he got sick, he was just realistic: ‘Now I’m sick.’ I’m so proud of him. He did not just lie down feeling sorry for himself. He said: “I have to do this, and do a little bit more when I come back.’”

Liljegren will be a focal point of the Leafs’ development camp next month, and will be invited to training camp in September. By his own admission, he probably needs at least another year, probably in Sweden, before he makes the leap to the NHL.

But when the time comes, will Lina also make the move, as she did four years ago?

“I want to, but he told me: ‘Mommy, now I’m growing up, I want to live alone,” she said. “I love hockey. I want to see every game he plays.”

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